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Weinkauf Wins October Nationals At I-94 Raceway
By Dean Reller
Sauk Centre, MN
October 13, 2002
The second annual October Nationals at the I-94 Raceway in Sauk Centre saw a little bit of everything including a snow shower on the first day of the two-day event. Clearer skies prevailed on the second day and things were extremely bright for Planet Pages MARS Series Late Model driver Chris Weinkauf, who scored his first win on the touring series.
Twenty-six Late Models took the green flag in the 100 lap main event and it was Steve Rubeck taking the lead from the outside pole. Quickly moving up was third starting driver Tim Olson who pressured Rubeck and took the lead out of turn four on lap 6. Eighth starting Tony Strupp worked his way through the traffic to capture second and pulled to Olson’s bumper. Strupp pulled alongside several times, but could not pull off the pass. This battle for the lead allowed Terry Baldry to join the fold at the head of the field. Baldry pulled alongside Strupp and took second on lap 53. Olson was next in line, but a caution for the stalled car of Todd Hansen slowed Baldry’s assault.
When racing resumed, Olson continued to show the way, as Baldry regained his momentum. The race for the lead was side-by-side on lap 60, before Baldry edged Olson to the line to become the new leader on lap 61. While the race for the lead was occurring, Weinkauf, who was driving his brother’s car for the weekend, was simultaneously making his way past Strupp to take third. A caution for the spinning car of Stacy Rossell bunched everyone up and allowed Weinkauf a shot at Olson for second on the restart. When the green waved, Baldry continued out front, but Weinkauf put the pressure on Olson and took second. Weinkauf closed the gap on the Baldry as the top pair raced through lapped traffic for the lead. A caution with 10 laps to go set the stage for a tight run to the finish.
As green waved again, Weinkauf stayed glued to Baldry. With five laps left, Weinkauf stepped things up as he took the lead on the backstretch. Contact from another car sent Rossell into the front stretch wall to bring out another yellow and setting up a green, white, checkered finish. Weinkauf took the restart, while Baldry barely held off the late race flurry of Nate Thiesse as Weinkauf rolled to the win, his first ever MARS Series victory after several runner-up finishes.
I-94 Raceway October Nationals Results Oct. 13th, 2002
Planet Pages Mid-West AllStar Racing Series Late Models
First Heat
1.) Jeff Lofquist (Fergus Falls) 2.) Brian Brickzin (Little Falls) 3.) Darren Wolke (Belle Plaine) 4.) Mike Kunz (Champlin) 5.) Bob White (Spring Lake Park) 6.) Stacy Rossell (Spicer) 7.) Kelly Willman (Ripon, WI) 8.) Kevin Lofquist (Nelson)
Second Heat
1.) Nate Thiesse (Brainerd) 2.) Rich Snyder (Alexandria) 3.) Eugene Dick (Watkins) 4.) Mike Strupp (Theresa, WI) 5.) Steve Murgic (Rosemount) 6.) Chris Wienkauf (Merrill, WI) 7.) Todd Hansen (Minneapolis) 8.) A.J. Rhoads (Hastings) 9.) Jason Schafer (Osseo)
Third Heat
1.) Tim Olson (Hamel) 2.) Ryan Matthews (Lake Geneva, WI) 3.) Bryan Roach (Becker) 4.) Trent Snyder (Ironton) 5.) Brad Mueller (Randon Lake, WI) 6.) Steve Rubeck (Cherry Valley, IL) 7.) Tony Strupp (West Bend, WI) 8.) Terry Baldry (Omro, WI) 9.) Chris Grimes (Green Bay, WI)
Fast Qualifiers
1.) Terry Baldry (16.91 sec.) 2.) Tony Strupp (17.05 sec.) 3.) Ryan Matthews (17.05 sec.)
100 Lap Feature
1.) Chris Wienkauf 2.) Terry Baldry 3.) Nate Thiesse 4.) Ryan Matthews 5.) Tim Olson 6.) Tony Strupp 7.) Bryan Roach 8.) Brad Mueller 9.) Steve Rubeck 10.) A.J. Rhoads 11.) Steve Murgic 12.) Rich Snyder 13.) Trent Snyder 14.) Eugene Dick 15.) Brian Brickzin 16.) Bob White 17.) Darren Wolke 18.) Stacy Rossell 19.) Mike Kunz 20.) Chris Grimes 21.) Jeff Lofquist-DNF 22.) Kelly Willman-DNF 23.) Todd Hansen-DNF 24.) Mike Strupp-DNF 25.) Kevin Lofquist-DNF 26.) Jason Schafer-DNF
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